Hercampuri

Uncaria tomentosa—Adjuvant Treatment for Breast Cancer: Clinical Trial
Maria do Carmo Santos Araújo,1,2Iria Luiza Farias,1,2Jessie Gutierres,1Sergio L. Dalmora,3,4Nélia Flores,2Julia Farias,1Ivana de Cruz,5Juarez Chiesa,2Vera Maria Morsch,1 and Maria Rosa Chitolina Schetinger1
1Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, Avenida Roraima, Predio18, 97105-900 Santa Maria, Rs,Brazil
2Santa Maria University Hospital, Federal University of Santa Maria, Avenida Roraima, Predio18, 97105-900 Santa Maria, Rs, Brazil
3Department of Biology, Federal University of Santa Maria, Avenida Roraima, Predio18, 97105-900 Santa Maria, Rs, Brazil
4Department of Industrial Pharmacy, Federal University of Santa Maria, Avenida Roraima, Predio18, 97105-900 Santa Maria, Rs, Brazil
5Departmentof Morphology, Federal University of Santa Maria, Avenida Roraima, Predio18, 97105-900 Santa Maria, Rs, Brazil
Received 15 November 2011; Revised 26 April 2012; Accepted 27 April 2012
Academic Editor: Alyson Huntley
Copyright © 2012 Maria do Carmo Santos Araújo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most frequent neoplasm affecting women worldwide. Some of the recommended treatments involve chemotherapy whose toxic effects include leukopenia and neutropenia. This study assessed the effectiveness of Uncaria tomentosa (Ut) in reducing the adverse effects of chemotherapythrough a randomized clinical trial. Patients with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma—Stage II, who underwent a treatment regimen known as FAC (Fluorouracil, Doxorubicin, Cyclophosphamide), were divided into two groups: the UtCa received chemotherapy plus 300 mg dry Ut extract per day and the Ca group that only received chemotherapy and served as the control experiment. Blood samples were collected before eachone of the six chemotherapy cycles and blood counts, immunological parameters, antioxidant enzymes, and oxidative stress were analyzed. Uncaria tomentosa reduced the neutropenia caused by chemotherapy and was also able to restore cellular DNA damage. We concluded that Ut is an effective adjuvant treatment for breast cancer.

1. Introduction
Breast cancer is the most frequent neoplasm affectingwomen worldwide, both in terms of incidence and mortality. The disease is more common in developed countries with its highest incidence being observed in the United Kingdom, Australia, USA, and Canada. From invasive tumors, ductal carcinoma and its variants represent 80% of cases [1] and the proportion of women with tumors in clinical stages I and II increased from 41 to 65% in the last decade [1,2]. About 70% of breast cancers express Estrogen hormone receptors and/or Progesterone receptor [3]. These markers along with the HER-2 receptor (c-erbB2) provide information about the tumor and how it might respond to different treatments [4].
Chemotherapy is among the recommended treatments for breast cancer, which can be a single or combination therapy with multiple drugs. Chemotherapy drugshave very narrow therapeutic indexes in terms of nonselective toxic effects on normal tissues, with neutropenia being the most frequently observed adverse reaction, which increases the risk of infections [5].
Pharmacological interventions that reduce or prevent adverse effects may have a substantial impact on cancer treatment. According to World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the populationuse medicinal plants as alternative or complementary procedures for the treatment of their diseases [6].
Studies have reported the use of herbal medicines in cancer patients to minimize the effects of chemotherapy. Uncaria tomentosa (Utor Cat’s Claw) is a medicinal herb that has been used in the treatment of different diseases including cancer. Patients who use Cat’s Claw along with traditional...